“Just as our sufferings are abundant in Christ, so is our comfort!” (2 Corinthians 1:5) When Jesus promised to give us abundant life, did anyone consider that He would give us sufferings AND strength in large measure? I was risk-averse before it was a word. My tendency is to protect myself from pain and disappointment. Jesus has a different life in mind for me. Daily, He calls me into the daring adventure of Life in the Spirit. He guarantees that I will be hurt, rejected and misunderstood. He also guarantees that I will be abundantly strengthened! I will be encouraged when I pray. . .inspired when I meet with a friend. . . instructed when I read the scripture. Anyone hungry for abundant life? Will you stop and pray right now for those in the First Baptist Family who need strength/wisdom at the present time? His promise is that the comfort will be huge! I am looking forward to seeing you in a few hours. Don
I served today during the 11 o’clock hour and was so very thankful I was able to listen to your sermon this afternoon. It touched me deeply and left me with overwhelming thankfulness to God for His mercy. As a result of walking in the disorienting/painful journey you described for some time now, I am very familiar with the Mercy He provides…. so much so that I just want to stay here. There is something so indescribably beautiful (and simple) about knowing He is both all you have and all you need. I hope for (and feel I have God’s promise of) reconciliation in my life, but now I am being asked to walk through another door instead…. for the time being. I will have the opportunity to do so tomorrow, or I can just shut down and not. How timely that I listened to that particular sermon today. Thank you for letting Him speak through you.
I always listen to NASB when I listen to my bible, but because of technical difficulties yesterday I listened to NLT. The Spirit led me to Ephesians. In Eph 4:16 it says: He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, IT HELPS THE OTHER PARTS GROW, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. This challenged my usual view that we each just do our own thing and all will be well. No….we the people…. the “ordinary” people (won’t it be a surprise when we are revealed for who we really are) are to be earnestly vested in helping the other parts grow. Since this is a prayer blog hopefully this will encourage us to seek to do just that in our prayers for each other and all the saints. Thanks be to God for this insight.